Less than Two Weeks to Go in my TCO

It’s hard to believe, but I have been encased in this TCO, Total Contact Orthosis jacket now for over six weeks and hopefully if the doctor says “okay” I can take it off in another two weeks. So meanwhile I’ve been wearing only sweat pants or capris with elastic or drawstring waistbands, T-shirts, and large button-down or pullovers tops. In other words, I’ve basically been living in pajamas.
In the short term, it sounds relaxing, but being a woman who likes to feel somewhat “in style” it has been getting tedious. I’ve tried to mix it up a bit, by adding a scarf and trading in my sneakers for Mary Jane’s but I still feel “sloppy” and it is all about how you feel. So I’m concentrating on other things such as cleaning out my desk, which hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned in probably five years. I’m finding all sorts of things like the beautiful card my daughter Alex made for me one Mother’s Day and the poem I wrote on one of my many numerous pads last Fall. So here it goes:Small Things
Feeling good when I wake up in the morning
Taking a walk and starring up at the blue sky
Such a bright blue picture perfect sky that I doubt
Its authenticity when comparing it to the crumbling
Brown and orange leaves on the tall trees lining the streets

Is this real?.. the slight chill in the air
The bright sunshine and the bounce in my step
Or is it my imagination of what the world should be like
Every day of my life
Only I am too busy most days, too realize the wonderful details
Of the small things in my life.

Like this:

Published by Nadja Maril

Nadja Maril is a communications professional who has over 10 years experience as a magazine editor.
A writer and journalist, Maril is the author of several books including: "American Lighting 1840-1940", "Antique Lamp Buyer's Guide", "Me, Molly Midnight; the Artist's Cat", and "Runaway, Molly Midnight; the Artist's Cat". Her short stories and essays have been published in several small online journals including Scarlet Leaf Review and Storynews. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine.
Former Editor-in-Chief of What's Up ? Publishing, former Editor of Chesapeake Taste Magazine a regional lifestyle magazine based in Annapolis, and former Lighting Editor of Victorian Homes Magazine, Maril has written hundreds of newspaper and magazines articles on a variety of subjects..
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One thought on “Less than Two Weeks to Go in my TCO”

Grats on your progress. Hope I’m not commenting too much, but I’m afraid I really, really relate to what you’re posting when you talk about these things. I wore sweat pants out in public a few weeks ago and might as well have been in my underwear, for the way it made me feel. Definitely expedited my return to jeans, though I have the advantage of not dealing with the TCO.

Hope your doc has nothing but good news for you. I admire your positive attitude.